Menu Foods, Inc. Product Liability
Class Action Lawsuit
Introduction
Pet owners nationwide filed a class action lawsuit against pet food manufacturer Menu Foods, Inc. Pet owners believe that there are thousands of pets throughout the United States who ingested Menu Foods’ products and as a result became ill and/or died and required their owners to incur substantial emotional distress as well as veterinary costs and related expenses.
Plaintiffs' Factual Allegations
The complaint alleged that Menu Foods sold and distributed pet food that contained toxic substances for animals, including wheat gluten, which can cause liver and kidney dysfunction and failure, vomiting, jaundice, loss of appetite and other health problems up to and including death of the pet.
The complaint also alleged that Menu Foods failed to adequately notify consumers of the danger of their contaminated pet food even after injuries to and deaths of pets were reported by their owners.
Menu Foods has admitted that certain of their products were defective and caused injury and death to household pets. Plaintiffs alleged that Menu Foods either knew or should have known that their products were defective and presented a serious risk to the health and safety of animals prior to their recall.
Proposed Class
The plaintiffs brought the class action on behalf of themselves and all persons in the United States who purchased or incurred damages by the use of pet food produced, manufactured and/or distributed by Menu Foods that was or will be recalled including that produced from December 3, 2006 to March 6, 2007.
Plaintiffs sought a court-approved and supervised emergency notice warning plaintiffs and class members to cease, immediately, the use of Menu Foods’ products, including information on diagnosis and treat of injuries, and an immediate removal of all potentially harmful products. Plaintiffs also sought actual and compensatory damages and out-of-pocket costs, reimbursement of money spent on Menu Foods’ defective products.
2008 Case Settlement
At a hearing on May 30, 2008, Judge Hillman granted initial approval to a $24 million settlement with Menu Foods. The final hearing is scheduled for October 14, 2008.
You do not need attorney assistance or representation to file a claim.
The settlement covers expenses associated with pet deaths and illnesses, including veterinary costs, time missed from work to care for sick animals, replacement pets, burial expenses and property damaged by sick animals. The settlement does NOT reimburse pet owners for pain and suffering from injuries to their pets. Pet owners who did not save all their pet food receipts or veterinary bills can still request up to $900 for undocumented claims.
Please note that your settlement claim form must be postmarked no later than November 24, 2008. Other important deadlines as well as all details and forms for filing a claim can be found at this website: http://www.petfoodsettlement.com/
You may receive notice and settlement information from a firm called Heffler, Radetich & Saitta LLP. That firm has been selected by the Court as Settlement Administrator, and as such they are responsible for mailing out notices about the settlement to known class members. They also run the website mentioned above and process all the settlement claim forms for this litigation. The notice and forms they may send you in the mail are the same as those found on the website. You may file a claim even if you have not received a notice of settlement in the mail from the Heffler firm.
Trademark Notice
Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, is not affiliated in any way with Menu Foods, Inc., and any and all trademarks are used herein for informational purposes only.
About Lieff Cabraser
Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP is a fifty-plus attorney law firm that has represented plaintiffs nationwide since 1972. We have offices in San Francisco, New York and Nashville. We represent plaintiffs in class and group actions and in individual lawsuits in cases involving substantial losses. For the last five years, the National Law Journal has selected Lieff Cabraser as one of the top plaintiffs' law firms in the nation.
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